Power gain is expressed in different ways.
In Electronic Communications, it is common that the power
gain is expressed in decibels because the input power in usually in milliwatts (mW) or microwatts (W),
and the output power is in megawatts (MW) or kilowatts (KW) resulting the power gain in ratio in
hundreds and even thousands.
Power gain (A) as a ratio (unitless)
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑃2 𝑃𝐹 𝑃
𝐴= ; ; ;
𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑃1 𝑃𝐼 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 2 𝑉 𝑉 𝑉
𝐴= ( ) ; ( 2 )2 ; ( 𝐹 )2 ; ( )2
𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝑉1 𝑉𝐼 𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑓
𝐼 𝐼 𝐼 𝐼
𝐴 = ( 𝑜𝑢𝑡 )2 ; ( 2 )2 ; ( 𝐹 )2 ; ( )2
𝐼𝑖𝑛 𝐼1 𝐼𝐼 𝐼𝑟𝑒𝑓
Power gain expressed in Bel. (Logarithmic expression of the ratio)
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑃2 𝑃𝐹 𝑃
𝐴 = log ; log ; log ; log
𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑃1 𝑃𝐼 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑉2 𝑉𝐹 𝑉
𝐴 = 2 log ; 2 log ; 2 log ; 2 log
𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝑉1 𝑉𝐼 𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑓
𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐼2 𝐼𝐹 𝐼
𝐴 = 2 log ; 2 log ; 2 log ; 2 log
𝐼𝑖𝑛 𝐼1 𝐼𝐼 𝐼𝑟𝑒𝑓
Power gain expressed in Decibel, dB. (10 x Bel expression)
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑃2 𝑃𝐹 𝑃
𝐴 = 10 log ; 10 log ; 10 log ; 10 log
𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑃1 𝑃𝐼 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑉2 𝑉𝐹 𝑉
𝐴 = 20 log ; 20 log ; 20 log ; 20 log
𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝑉1 𝑉𝐼 𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑓
𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐼2 𝐼𝐹 𝐼
𝐴 = 20 log ; 20 log ; 20 log ; 20 log
𝐼𝑖𝑛 𝐼1 𝐼𝐼 𝐼𝑟𝑒𝑓
dBm, dBW, dBK and dB
𝑃
𝐴 = 10 log unit in dBm (power being referred to 1 mW expressed in dB)
1 𝑚𝑊
𝑃
𝐴 = 10 log unit in dBW (power being referred to 1 W expressed in dB)
1𝑊
𝑃
𝐴 = 10 log unit in dBK (power being referred to 1 KW expressed in dB)
1 𝐾𝑊
𝑃
𝐴 = 10 log unit in dB (power being referred to 1 W expressed in dB)
1 𝑊
dBV, dBmV, dBV
𝑉
𝐴 = 20 log unit in dBV (voltage being referred to 1 V expressed in dB)
1𝑉
𝑉
𝐴 = 20 log unit in dBmV (voltage being referred to 1 mV expressed in dB)
1 𝑚𝑉
𝑉
𝐴 = 20 log unit in dBV (voltage being referred to 1 V expressed in dB)
1 𝑉
Neper, N (not to be mistaken as Newton) – the natural logarithmic expression of the power gain
1 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 1 𝑃2 1 𝑃𝐹 1 𝑃
𝐴= ln ; ln ; ln ; ln
2 𝑃𝑖𝑛 2 𝑃1 2 𝑃𝐼 2 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑉2 𝑉𝐹 𝑉
𝐴 = ln ; ln ; ln ; ln
𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝑉1 𝑉𝐼 𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑓
𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐼2 𝐼𝐹 𝐼
𝐴 = ln ; ln ; ln ; ln
𝐼𝑖𝑛 𝐼1 𝐼𝐼 𝐼𝑟𝑒𝑓
Converting dB to Neper and Neper to dB
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 1 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡
Let 𝑥 = 10 log and 𝑦= ln
𝑃𝑖𝑛 2 𝑃𝑖𝑛
𝑥
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡
= 10(10) = 𝑒 2𝑦
𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝑖𝑛
𝑥
10(10) = 𝑒 2𝑦
𝑥
ln 10 = 2𝑦 (ln 𝑒 = 1)
10
𝑥
(2.3026) = 2𝑦
10
20 2.3026
𝑥= 𝑦 = 8.686𝑦 Neper to dB 𝑦= 𝑥 = 0.1151𝑥 dB to Neper
2.3026 20
PROBLEMS:
dB Calculations
1. What will be the dB gain of an amplifier with an input power equal to 1W and output power is 1
KW?
Given: Pin = 1W and Pout = 1KW
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 1000 𝑊
𝐴 = 10 log = 10 log
𝑃𝑖𝑛 1𝑊
𝑨 = 𝟑𝟎 𝒅𝑩
2. The dB gain of a 6mV signal with an output voltage of 3V is _______________.
Given: Vin = 6mV and Vout = 3V
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 3𝑉
𝐴 = 20 log = 20 log
𝑉𝑖𝑛 6 𝑚𝑉
𝑨 = 𝟓𝟑. 𝟗𝟖 𝒅𝑩
3. The dB gain of a 5W signal compared to 30W is _____________________.
Given: P = 5W and Pref = 30KW
𝑃 5𝑊
𝐴 = 10 log = 10 log
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓 30 𝑊
𝑨 = −𝟕. 𝟕𝟖 𝒅𝑩 *note: negative (-) means Power being referred is below the power
reference value
4. The dB voltage gain of a 3-V signal as referred to 6V is ________________.
Given: V = 3 V and Vref = 6 V
𝑉 3𝑉
𝐴 = 20 log = 10 log
𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑓 6𝑉
𝑨 = −𝟔. 𝟎𝟐 𝒅𝑩 * note: negative (-) means voltage being referred is below the voltage
reference value
5. Calculate the dBm, dBW, dB, dBK values of a 10-W signal.
Given: P = 10 W
dBm: dBK
𝑃 10 𝑊 𝑃 10 𝑊
𝐴 = 10 log = 10 log 𝐴 = 10 log = 10 log
1 𝑚𝑊 1 𝑚𝑊 1 𝐾𝑊 1 𝐾𝑊
𝑨 = 𝟒𝟎 𝒅𝑩𝒎 𝑨 = 𝟐𝟎 𝒅𝑩𝑲
dBW dB
𝑃 10 𝑊 𝑃 10 𝑊
𝐴 = 10 log = 10 log 𝐴 = 10 log = 10 log
1𝑊 1𝑊 1 𝑊 1 𝑊
𝑨 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒅𝑩𝑾 𝑨 = 𝟕𝟎 𝒅𝑩𝝁
6. What is the dBV, dBmV and dBV value of 9V?
𝑉 9𝑉
𝐴 = 20 log = 20 log 𝑨 = 𝟏𝟗. 𝟎𝟖 𝒅𝑩𝑽
1𝑉 1𝑉
𝑉 9𝑉
𝐴 = 20 log = 20 log 𝑨 = 𝟕𝟗. 𝟎𝟖 𝒅𝑩𝒎𝑽
1 𝑚𝑉 1 𝑚𝑉
𝑉 9𝑉
𝐴 = 20 log = 20 log 𝑨 = 𝟏𝟑𝟗. 𝟎𝟖 𝒅𝑩𝝁𝑽
1 𝑉 1 𝑉
7. A certain system allows an input of 100 mV to produce a processed signal with a value of 50
V. What is the gain in Bel, dB and neper?
Given: Vin = 100 mV and Vout = 50 V
Bel dB (2 methods)
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐴 = 2 log a) 𝐴 = 20 log b) 𝐴𝑑𝐵 = 10 × 𝐴𝐵𝑒𝑙
𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝑉𝑖𝑛
50 𝑉 50 𝑉
𝐴 = 2 log 100 𝑚𝑉 𝐴 = 20 log 100 𝑚𝑉 𝐴𝑑𝐵 = 10 × 5.4
𝑨 = 𝟓. 𝟒 𝑩𝒆𝒍 𝑨 = 𝟓𝟒 𝒅𝑩 𝑨 = 𝟓𝟒 𝒅𝑩
Neper (2 methods)
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
a) 𝐴 = ln b) 𝐴 = 0.1151𝑥
𝑉𝑖𝑛
50 𝑉
𝐴 = ln 100 𝑚𝑉 𝐴 = 0.1151(54)
𝑨 = 𝟔. 𝟐𝟏 𝒏𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝑨 = 𝟔. 𝟐𝟏 𝒏𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒓
8. A certain amplifier has a gain of 20 dB. If the inputs were 1mV, 100mV, 1V, what would their
outputs be?
Vin1 = 1 mV Vin2 = 100 mV Vin3 = 1 V A = 20 dB
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐴 = 20 log
𝑉𝑖𝑛
𝐴 𝐴 20
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
= 10(20) 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑉𝑖𝑛 × 10(20) = 𝑉𝑖𝑛 × 10(20) = 10𝑉𝑖𝑛
𝑉𝑖𝑛
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡1 = 10𝑉𝑖𝑛1 = 10 × 1 𝑚𝑉 𝑽𝒐𝒖𝒕𝟏 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒎𝑽
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡2 = 10𝑉𝑖𝑛2 = 10 × 100 𝑚𝑉 𝑽𝒐𝒖𝒕𝟐 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒎𝑽 or 1 V
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡3 = 10𝑉𝑖𝑛3 = 10 × 1 𝑉 𝑽𝒐𝒖𝒕𝟑 = 𝟏𝟎 𝑽
9. An amplifier has an input of 35mW and output of 2.75W. What is the gain in dB and neper?
Given: Pin = 35 mW and Pout = 2.75 W
dB Neper (2 methods)
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 2.75 𝑊 1 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐴 = 10 log = 10 log a) 𝐴 = ln 𝐴 b)
= 0.1151𝑥
𝑃𝑖𝑛 35 𝑚𝑊 2 𝑃𝑖𝑛
1 2.75 𝑊 𝐴 = 0.1151(18.95)
𝑨 = 𝟏𝟖. 𝟗𝟓 𝒅𝑩 𝐴 = ln
2 35 𝑚𝑊
𝑨 = 𝟐. 𝟏𝟖 𝒏𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝑨 = 𝟐. 𝟏𝟖 𝒏𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒓
10. Calculate the Pout2 and the total gain (both as ratio and in dB form) of the cascaded amplifiers below:
Pin1 A1 A2
Pout2
25 dB 50 dB
1 mW
Method 1
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡1
𝐴1 = 10 log
𝑃𝑖𝑛1
𝐴 𝐴 25
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡1 ( 1) ( 1) ( )
= 10 10 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡1 = 𝑃𝑖𝑛1 × 10 10 = 1 𝑚𝑊 × 10 10 = 𝟑𝟏𝟔. 𝟐𝟐𝟖 𝒎𝑾
𝑃𝑖𝑛1
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡1 = 𝑝𝑖𝑛2
𝐴2 50
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡2
𝐴2 = 10 log 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡2 = 𝑃𝑖𝑛2 × 10( 10 ) = 316.228 𝑚𝑊 × 10(10) =
𝑃𝑖𝑛2
𝟑𝟏, 𝟔𝟐𝟐, 𝟕𝟕𝟕 𝒎𝑾 𝒐𝒓 𝟑𝟏, 𝟔𝟐𝟑. 𝟕𝟕𝟕 𝑾
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡2 31,622,777 𝑚𝑊
𝐴𝑇 = 𝐴𝑇 = = 𝟑𝟏, 𝟔𝟐𝟐, 𝟕𝟕𝟕
𝑃𝑖𝑛1 1 𝑚𝑊
𝐴 𝑇(𝑑𝐵) = 10 log 𝐴 𝑇 = 10 log 31,622,777 = 𝟕𝟓 𝒅𝑩
Method 2
𝐴1(𝑑𝐵) = 10 log 𝐴1
𝐴1(𝑑𝐵) 25
𝐴1(𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜) = 10( 10 ) 𝐴1(𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜) = 10
(10)
= 316.228
𝐴2(𝑑𝐵) 50
𝐴2(𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜) = 10( 10 ) 𝐴2(𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜) = 10
= 100,000 (10)
𝐴 𝑇 = 𝐴1 × 𝐴2 = 316.228 × 100,000 = 31,622,800
Note: Total Gain of cascaded amplifiers is calculated by multiplying the Gain in ratio of the
amplifiers.
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡2
𝐴𝑇 = 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡2 = 𝐴𝑇 × 𝑃𝑖𝑛1 = 31,622,800 × 1 𝑚𝑊 = 𝟑𝟏, 𝟔𝟐𝟐𝟖𝟎𝟎 𝒎𝑾 𝒐𝒓 𝟑𝟏, 𝟔𝟐𝟐. 𝟖 𝑾
𝑃𝑖𝑛1
𝐴 𝑇(𝑑𝐵) = 10 log 𝐴 𝑇 = 10 log 31,622,800 = 𝟕𝟓 𝒅𝑩
Method 3
𝐴 𝑇(𝑑𝐵) = 𝐴1((𝑑𝐵) + 𝐴2(𝑑𝐵) = 25 𝑑𝐵 + 50 𝑑𝐵 = 𝟕𝟓 𝒅𝑩
Note: Total Gain of cascaded amplifiers is calculated by getting the sum of the Gain in dB form
of the amplifiers.
𝐴𝑇(𝑑𝐵) = 10 log 𝐴𝑇(𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜)
𝐴𝑇(𝑑𝐵) 75
( ) ( )
𝐴𝑇(𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜) = 10 10 𝐴1(𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜) = 10 10 = 31,622,776
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡2
𝐴𝑇 = 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡2 = 𝐴𝑇 × 𝑃𝑖𝑛1 = 31,622,776 × 1 𝑚𝑊 = 𝟑𝟏, 𝟔𝟐𝟐, 𝟕𝟕𝟔 𝒎𝑾 𝒐𝒓 𝟑𝟏, 𝟔𝟐𝟐. 𝟕𝟕𝟔 𝑾
𝑃𝑖𝑛1
EXERCISES:
1. What is the dB gain of a 5-V input and a 10-V output?
2. The dB power gain of a 10-mW input to a 5-W output is _______________.
3. The dB gain of a 5W power referred to 10 W is _________________.
4. The dB gain of a 6V voltage compared to 3V is ____________.
5. An amplifier with a 10 mW signal has a 25 dB gain, What is the output power of the said
amplifier?
6. Give the dBm, dBµ, dBK, dBW values of 15W.
7. Calculate the dBV, dBµV and dBmV value of 6V.
8. Given PIN = 100 mW and POUT = 10W, calculate the gain Bel, dB and neper.
9. Calculate the gain (in Bel, dB and neper) of an amplifier with VIN = 50 mV and VOUT = 3 V.
10. Calculate POUT2 and the total gain, in ratio and dB, of two cascaded amplifiers with
A1 = 20 dB and A2 = 30 dB with PIN = 0.001 W.
